Supply concerns abroad have boosted oil futures in recent days. Producers have shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline, company statements showed. More outages are on the horizon. Iraq was forced to halt around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports, or half a percent of global oil supply, from the Kurdistan region (KRI) on Saturday through a pipeline that runs from its northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Coastal grades were mixed. Light Louisiana Sweet for May delivery gained 10 cents at a midpoint of a $1.85 premium, while Mars Sour fell 40 cents at a midpoint of a $2.10 discount, weakest since Jan. 31. Mars has weakened over the last several weeks.
Inland grades were mixed as well, with WTI Midland gaining 10 cents at a midpoint of a 70-cent premium and West
Texas Sour unchanged at a midpoint of a $1.45 discount
* Light Louisiana Sweet for May delivery gained 10
cents at a midpoint of a $1.85 premium and was seen bid and
offered between a $1.70 and $2 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* Mars Sour fell 40 cents at a midpoint of a $2.1
discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.2 and $2 a
barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI Midland gained 10 cents at a midpoint of a
70-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between 60-cent and
80-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* West Texas Sour was unchanged at a midpoint of a
$1.45 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.4 and
50-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between 80-cent and $1 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* ICE Brent May futures rose 99 cents to settle at
$79.27 a barrel.
* WTI May crude futures rose $1.40 to settle at $74.37
a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed, hitting a high
of minus $4.87 and a low of minus $5.37.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
